Planning: Balance Beam

The first obstacle for my man on the ground to tackle was the balance beam, in research for this I looked into such acts as tight rope walking and the balance practices used in martial arts training (I actually just watch Drunken Master with Jackie Chan a few time but nonetheless.)

The main features I picked up in balance based scenarios was the need to be as quick as possible due to the fact you have less time to come off balance, and the fact that the arms must always be tense to form a straight line through the shoulders.

I also in these sketches looked into the possibility of have an S shaped curve within the spine to give the piece a slightly more characterised look, but I didn't feel the effect worked too well as it did not convey the tension the body creates when attempting to balance.

Below are some of the thumbnails I used for posing in the blocking stage:





















Again I have been unable to upload any reference video due to their size, you can however buy Drunken Master from all good video stockists.